The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1887-03-05
HE WON HER.

tell you young man, you sii"i
not marry my niece"
"And l tai you madame, I will
if can"
'She is engaged to my son, Tom.
"She is engaged to me, and l dom
care a snap of my fingers for youl
son Tom"
"Sir, your language is ungentle.
manly"
"Mada6ev so is yours"
We were both at white heat; Mrs
Jupp, the aunt, the legal guardian
of my adored Julia, positively trem'
bled with rage, and looked around
the room as if in search Of some
weapon with which to attack me.
She was large and stout, had deep
bass voice, and hideous wiry cuSls,
and wore glasses of such ON intense
magnifying power that she seemed
to be glaring at one like hungry
Gorgon, (by the way what Is a Cor
gon p and could drive men away
from the vicinity Of her niece-my
dear Julia-by simply favoring them
with a stony stare, as fixed and aw-
full as that of the Sphinx.
Leave my house, sir" she said at
last, rising and pointing to the door,
with a very fine dramatic action.
Anger is more becoming to large,
stout woman than to a small one
unless she gets red in the face.
~ will not go until you give me
some better reasons for the stand
you take in this matter"
81 have told you once-she is'en
gagged to my SON."
81 don't believe it," l said boldly
though perhaps rudely but my
lovely Julia was reflected in dis
tant mirror, smiling at me and shak
ing her head, and l was reckless
Mrs. Jupp gasped, and if a magnifi
ed glance from her glaring eyes coulC
have killed me, | would have dice
on the spot.
"Mr. Edgerton, if my son wer
her"
"Confound your sonw sal,
l.. l really used much stronger
forgetting for a moment where
was.
l am not quite certain what hi
me, but | think it was footstool, n
l afterwards found a gilded claw
in my coat pocket. A man servant
whom / had often fed in other days
picked me up and escorted me Il
the door, murmuring sympathetic
ally the while, that "to be sure, Mrs
Jupp WAS a leetle uncertain q
times" Uncertain! There is no
thing uncertain about her. | am
small man, and n Tremendous buml
on my forehead is conspicuous no
is one black eye becoming to any
one, so l skunk down the street lik'
a criminal, vowing vengeance on thu
old tyrant in petticoats, who only
wanted Julia TO marry her son ii
order to keep the money in the fam
lily, for Julia was quite an heiress
though of course the fact had nc
weight with me.
Business of some kind had
brought Mrs. Jupp to st. Paul, and
there she took house and estab-
lished herself with her lovely niece
for the winter. In the first stages of
my acquaintance l was of much SER
vice to the old lady, and ran about
and did her miserable errands for
her like born idiot. / also had
every opportunity of falling in love
with her niece, and this l did as rap
idly as possible and with such sue
cess that in two months from their
arrival | announced our engagement
to the aunt, with the above describ-
ed result, through it must be under.
stood that l have only given the ter
mination Of my negotiations-the
preliminaries being. tame and unin-
teresting. The next day lspent in
my room trying experiments with
raw beef as applied to a black eye,
and nursing various schemes of ven
geance, and the lump on my fore
head at the same time.
The day following l ventured
down to my Office, and from there
sent an impassionate note to my
darling Julia, Il note filled with de.
spair, VOWS of eternal love and ap
propriate quotations. My note wal
returned by the grinning Office boy
who said the old lady had opened i
in his presence, read it aloud, an,
told him to take it back to that litfl
fool-meaning me-and added tina
she would box his-the said boys
ears if he ever brought another.
discharged the boy on the spot, an
told him he was an idle, good-for
nothing vagabond. During the da